Rebirth of Mothra (1996)

Mothra's return to cinema during the Heisei era is much lighter in tone than the Godzilla films of the same time. It is clear from the start that the film was designed to appeal to younger audiences, which isn't necessarily a bad thing considering Mothra is much more of a heroine than Godzilla. As a result, however, the plot has been greatly reduced in place of a greater number of effects sequences. Human loggers uncover an ancient seal that releases the destructive Desghidorah, a beast that drains the Earth of its energy. The Infant Island twins, with the help of two children, must summon Mothra to battle Desghidorah and the tiny nymph Belvera that is controlling him. The human element of the film is pretty weak, with often goofy dubbing and little character development. There is an obvious ecological subtext regarding the destruction of natural resources, and though it is straightforward, it is not overbearing. While there are also a few poor green-screening attempts early on in some aerial battles between the twins and Belvera, Toho comes through again in the final battles between Desghidorah and Mothra, with more impressive effects and excellent design work on the monsters. Desghidorah is surprisingly menacing for a juvenile child fantasy, but Mothra is cuddly and cute. The score incorporates the original work by Wantanabe, but it is far too dramatic and oppressive for the film itself. REBIRTH may not be one of the stronger 90s Kaiju entries, but it is still a lot of fun for giant monster fans and is a kid friendly action-adventurer.

These movies were terrible, IMO. The third was the best and that's not saying a whole lot. You should seek out ULTRAMAN THE NEXT (2004), Carl. It's very adult and dark and features some cool action scenes. I saw it back when FINAL WARS was released. It blows that film out of the water, too.

This one was very juvenile, and my kid was stuck on it the entire time. It definitely calls back to the Gamera films and Godzilla's Revenge moreso than Mothra. Im very interested in checking out the Ultraman series, but The Next sounds like itd be right down my alley!

I'll be really impressed if you cant get your hands on the third film. In my search for obscure films, I found ONE GUY on EBay that had it. He had the Japanese DVD with English Subtitles. Even then, he had no Buy Now option, meaning that he only had one copy.

I saw these movies on the Sci-Fi Channel back in the day and had fun with them, but nothing more. As I recall, they do no compare to the 90s 'Gamera' trilogy (what I've seen of it) or- as a kid friendly comparison- 'Gamera the Brave.'

My friend that runs far east flix subbed all of these previously although I am unsure if he still lists them on his site. You could always email him about them as they are a bit cheaper as in $10 to $15.

Very nice, Ill see how #2 goes then decide on 3, I thought Death Ghidorah was handled decently enough, the design was pretty cool so I wouldnt mind seeing him come back in 3. Not sure who to expect for 2.

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